Jake Clemons @ The Flying Saucer Club, Aug 15 2014

Jake Clemons is a humble man. At about the midway point of a sold-out show at the Flying Saucer Club last night in Elsternwick he began a song called 'All I Need' (from his 'It's On' EP), stopped, and sheepishly admitted to a boisterous audience that he'd "messed up the lyrics" and would have to start again.

Why?

"I was distracted by your awesomeness."

Not to put too fine a point on it, but we could relate to that sentiment, buddy boy.

Hell, many of us were distracted by awesomeness long before Jake, keyboardist Brett Mayer and percussionist Matt Musty took the stage. Earlier in the day they ventured to a school in Melbourne's west as guests of Springsteen & Us co-founders Mary and Piera. A conversation the night before at The Substation led to Jake volunteering to speak with students, an offer the principal and teacher jumped on with catlike quickness. Words weren't necessary when I caught up with them before last night's show -- our beloved Thelma & Louise looked like they'd been rocketed to the moon and back. They described how students peppered the visiting musicians with smart questions and how Jake, Brett and Matt performed an impromptu jam using school instruments. I was gobsmacked to learn this was the trio's first-ever visit to a school and not a PR-mandated dog-and-pony show of the sort witnessed years ago in Sydney when publicity black hole Paris Hilton visited a hospital and was lauded by lapdog media for everything but performing open heart surgery in Mother Teresa garb.

No, Jake's dedication to wringing righteousness from star power was real. Heartfelt. Genuine. Words that should scream from giant billboards when he releases his first full-length album in the hopefully near future.

An impossible future in which talent, not TV ratings, matters most.

But I digress. From the first few minutes of Wednesday night's show at the Toff in Town to show-closer 'Carry Me Through' sung without mics in the midst of a boozed up but rapt audience at the Flying Saucer it's been clear the man's destined to command a larger stage. May we all look back on this tour as the one that gave us a chance to see him perform up close. A future in which the music of Jake Clemons is embraced by the masses is a hopeful one, indeed.

Jake opened with an acoustic version of his uncle's most famous solo song, 'You're a Friend of Mine'.

The room at Flying Saucer Club was laid out like a banquet hall, with a gas-fueled fireplace and a mounted deer head providing bonus kitsch.

A familiar profile, even in shadow.

The night's setlist once again featured EPIC versions of Ryan Adams's 'Two' and Jake's own 'Song for Hope'. 

Like that bloke from Freehold, Jake feeds off an audience's energy, and on this Friday night in Melbourne ample fuel was consumed beforehand to provide it.  

Matt and Brett were their usual stellar selves, especially during Jake's many stories.

Sometimes the light embraces you.

As always, Jake's generosity extended well into the morning. Here, Piera and Mary -- aka Teachers for Tom Morello, Thelma & Louise, and no doubt other aliases I'm unaware of -- get some autographs from the man who, as Mary put it, changed some lives at their school earlier in the day.